Abstract:

The purpose of the study is to examine the roles of the Business environment (professional skills) and Business etiquette (employee behaviour) in influencing the achievement of organizational goals (health improvement, patient satisfaction and demand for hospital services) in the North West region of Nigeria. Organizational success depends to a large extent on the strengths of its business environment, the codes of behaviour that guide its actions and the effectiveness of its management decisions. This study tried to understand what exerts the most influence between professional skills and employee behaviour when patients decide to visit a hospital in the North West region of Nigeria.

Online and paper-based survey questionnaire were used to collect data. All individuals (consumers of hospital services) living within the North West region of Nigeria were invited to join the survey. Out of the 300 responses analysed 147 were from online survey and 153 from paper-based questionnaire which were completed and returned directly or through email. The largest number of participants in the survey (34.9%) is between the ages of 35 – 44 years old followed by those between the ages of 25 – 34 years old (31.9%).

The results have confirmed that professional skill of employees is the main influence to choice of hospital in that region of Nigeria. It has also been confirmed that most of the patients are satisfied with the services rendered to them in the hospitals.

Keywords: etiquette, skills, behaviour, hospital, choice, patients

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